this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2024
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How would you define like us vs similar to us?
Humans can have more complex emotions. We can be stressed about theoretical concepts that animals just are not equipped to understand. We can be excited by the prospect of future events.
Most animal emotions are immediate. They enjoy some food they eat, they find a nice warm spot to bask in, they see a predator and run away. Most animals lack the mental capacity to think beyond the immediate.
I mean, that could just be a fault in observation. The same line of thinking was utilized by people like Thomas Jefferson to validate his own use of slavery.
The language we use to describe intellect and emotions are inseparable from biased interpretation by humans. Can all humans "stress about theoretical concepts"? If a human lacks the ability to do so, do they become less human, or more animalistic?
Pretty sure every human who understands the concept of death are stressed about it at some point in their life.
So, those who do not understand the concept would probably not stress over it. Like someone with brain damage, or animals I guess.
Who knows, maybe my cat is in a bad mood sometimes because she is having an existential crisis, but I kinda doubt it.
Right, but how does one express their anxiety over the concept of death? And if someone does not express their anxiety in a perceivable way, does that mean they do not experience it?
If we took away a person's ability to vocalize their grievances, what kind of behavior of theirs would we attribute to an existential crisis? And how would we determine that type of anxiety from normal interaction with the external environment?